Thursday, March 29, 2007

March 29, 2007

As if we don't have enough to do this year, Donnie bought a camp last night! Donnie, his Dad and my Dad went in on it together. They'll use it for fishing and hunting and general getting away. The camp needs work but that may have to wait until the house is done.

March 27, 2007



Plans Already! There are a few minor changes that need to be made. I want the doors/hallways to line up as you walk into the house towards the den and then across the kitchen to the pantry. I also want the door we will be using everyday to be to the right of the entry area so shelves and coats can go to the left.

The driveway is diagonal to the house at the bottom left corner of the picture. It sweeps around and comes into the basement under the den too. The view is out over the point and can be seen easily from the living room and bedrooms upstairs although the view is very nice from each room except maybe the bathrooms.

The roof is going to be very simple 12:12 pitch with a full dormer at the bedrooms and down to floor level on the other side of the house.

The only things not in the picture is the basement which will be unfinished at first and the "attic". The woodstove will be in the basement and you can see in the diagrams where a floor vent will let the heat up. We will be using the floor vent I took from the house I grew up in and we hope to find a mate to it somewhere for the upper level.

The ceiling upstairs will be vaulted at the expense of an attic. We are planning to put a regular height ceiling on the upstairs bathroom. That leaves a tiny attic space above which can be accessed from Isaac's bedroom. We plan to finish that as a secret space for him.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

March 25, 2007

We signed the contract and wrote the first cheque. Stan said it would be up to 2 weeks before he got the plans to us for approval or adjustments. We're starting to get excited.

The contract is for panelized framing, exterior materials, insulation and vapour barrier, roof excluding metal, dormer, windows, skylights and doors, interior materials, stairs, joists, timbers, flooring, and probably stuff I'm forgetting. The purchase price is $61,240.80 including taxes so slightly less than I budgeted for.

March 23, 2007

We met with Stan today at our house and then went to the site. He complimented Donnie on the house and his work often. He liked the site with the views. It all gave him a better idea of what we are looking for and how he can provide that for us.

We went over my floorplan drawings in detail and then talked window placement and techincal stuff. It all seems logical and reasonable. He's very easy to deal with. There were a few things we want to change since our previous meeting and he has said if we want to sign a contract he will be able to provide those extras at no extra cost. I'm impressed because one of my "extras" is extending the dormer from 10' to the entire length of the house. We're going to take some time to go over the contract and Sunday we'll write him a cheque if we want him to go forward with our plans and package.

March 20, 2007

We met with Stan and Agnes Garnett today from Fall River Log Homes. We're almost positive that we will be signing a contract with them to provide the exterior materials and framing and the interior materials. Stan is going to come out to the site next week and we'll go from there.

March 1, 2007

After a long winter of stress we are back at the house planning again. Neither Gillis or Acorn worked out for what we wanted but we've found some alternatives. We've been exploring the options of log homes with Kenomee and Fall River Log Homes. In the process we discovered that FRLH also does post and beam construction. That sounds promising.